Who is Yemi Solade? Actor backs Nigerian president on Twitter ban for 'humiliating' country
On June 4, the Nigerian government decided to ban the use of Twitter in their country. In a statement, the goverment led by President Muhammadu Buhari said that they would 'indefinitely' ban Twitter from being used in the country. The statement also cited the reason for the ban being "the persistent use of the platform for activities that we [think are] capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence."
This ban came after Twitter deleted a tweet by Buhari and since then, people from Nigeria, which happens to be one of the most populated African countries have been protesting the government's decision. The days after the Twitter ban saw Nigerians using VPN to access the site and post their messages about how they truly felt about the ban. At this time, a well-known Nigerian actor has shown his support for his government's action.
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Who is Yemi Solade?
Yemi Solade is the Nigerian actor who showed support for the Nigerian government, and also said Twitter went too far in insulting President Buhari. According to reports, he said during interview with GoldmyneTV, "This is not the first time Twitter will try to humiliate Nigeria. It happened to Pastor Chris Oyakilhome some years back. I think the white supremacist and imperialist tendencies should be curbed sometimes."
He also added, "As much as I am of the opinion that everybody has a right to expression and thoughts, but when a platform is used to want to ferment trouble and project anarchy, there should be rules regulating such practices. In this case, a lot happens on Twitter."
Solade further explained, "I am not really a Twitter fan; I do little on Twitter. I would want to align with that school of thought that says Twitter was not really helping. Nigeria has so many problems to contend with and Twitter was not really helping the country.”
He also added however that he could understand why people, especially those doing business would miss the platform as it was quite useful for them. Solade said, "I want to think in the larger space, it really trampled on the fundamental human rights of Nigerians. Because the President or the Presidency is aggrieved with Twitter, it does not mean that over 190 million Nigerians should queue behind the President."
Explaining why he supported his president this time around, he said, "I support my President this time around though. I am not trying to doublespeak, but I think it is a two-way thing. The best the Presidency could do has been done for now. We don’t know how long, but we hope the issue will be resolved and Twitter will begin to function in Nigeria."
Solade is well-known for his movies 'Voiceless Scream', 'The Widow', and most recently 'Amin: Amen'.